February 1st 2015
Is The Holy Spirit Real – To You?
John 14:14-17 (NIV)
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
When we talk about the Holy Spirit and about the faith of His indwelling of followers of Jesus, we do not often include the part of the selected verses that state, "If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Most such conversations seem to usually conclude that he Holy Spirit was left behind for all followers of Jesus Christ. Of course, we need to analyze what being a follower of Jesus Christ entails! You should intend to do “what I (Jesus) command,” if not, then you are not really a follower, are you? Most of us living in the USA today do not like to be told what to do by anyone. People resist what the people in-charge try to enforce, because there are evil forces always surrounding us, and causing us to rebel against those in authority. This unrest was started at the Fall of Man.
Jesus questioned His disciples about this seeming inability to love Him, and He cautioned them about this problem of a lack of a loving trust in Him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:24-26) Here again Jesus is promising to send the Holy Spirit so His followers can actually trust He did what He said He would do! If you do not believe that this Holy Spirit actually exists, then how could you depend upon it to guide you to be able to understand what Jesus did for us?
Simply stated, Jesus came to this earth as the God/man to die for our (your) sins. Of course, as true followers of Jesus we believe that He alone offers a means of salvation. Still, as Thomas did, we have trouble believing that we are on that narrow path in this life that will lead us to God the Father through Jesus. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:4-6) Immediately when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were put on the narrow path, please believe in your salvation, and be joyous!
Please also believe that your guarantee of salvation from Jesus is a gift through grace, you did not earn it, nor could you ever earn it, because you are one of mankind, and thus, are included in the curse of Adam. Paul wrote about this freedom gift to the Corinthians and us. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14) Did you appreciate this assessment of relationship with Jesus; you get grace, love and fellowship. Every true believer, as Paul wrote, “you all” receive “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” therefore when you associate with other believer’s “you all” share in fellowship.
Satan does not like it when you are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and thus, he works to break up such feelings of fellowship, and thus to discourage us from reaching out to each other. Satan has been very successful in keeping Jesus followers from offering fellowship to other believers by splitting us up into denominations. Although we are all saved by the blood of Christ, we find ways to believe that the other denomination(s) may not be saved, because they fail to believe everything we believe, exactly the way we believe it. Unfortunately Satan has caused some believers to stress the differences and skip over the similarities.
So where do we go from here? This commentary may not be an appropriate forum for such a tremendous realization to take place, but hopefully it may get you to think positively about people who attend churches, which stress views that do not match the church you regularly attend. Today is the day we have work toward bringing the Body of Christ into a cohesive assembly of followers of Jesus! We all believe that “Jesus is the answer,” but we do not all agree to “what is the question!” If the only way to salvation is to follow Jesus, then let us keep it simple. If the question is, “how can my immortal soul end up in heaven when I die?” Then there is only one answer! Jesus is the answer!
Think about it, what can you do to help make the Body of Christ be more singular and become more cohesive? There is a clue in the selected verses for today, and it indicates you cannot do it on your own. You must depend upon the Holy Spirit to direct your thinking in all things. If you remain worldly in your thought processes, then you cannot accept guidance from this Holy Spirit. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. Did Jesus leave this Holy Spirit for you? Does He really indwell your soul? Can you believe it?
Read what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:3-5) Has the grace of Jesus freed you to believe that, “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age?” Do you feel rescued? Are you free to accept other believers as our brothers and sisters? Pray about it.
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
John 14:14-17 (NIV)
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
When we talk about the Holy Spirit and about the faith of His indwelling of followers of Jesus, we do not often include the part of the selected verses that state, "If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Most such conversations seem to usually conclude that he Holy Spirit was left behind for all followers of Jesus Christ. Of course, we need to analyze what being a follower of Jesus Christ entails! You should intend to do “what I (Jesus) command,” if not, then you are not really a follower, are you? Most of us living in the USA today do not like to be told what to do by anyone. People resist what the people in-charge try to enforce, because there are evil forces always surrounding us, and causing us to rebel against those in authority. This unrest was started at the Fall of Man.
Jesus questioned His disciples about this seeming inability to love Him, and He cautioned them about this problem of a lack of a loving trust in Him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:24-26) Here again Jesus is promising to send the Holy Spirit so His followers can actually trust He did what He said He would do! If you do not believe that this Holy Spirit actually exists, then how could you depend upon it to guide you to be able to understand what Jesus did for us?
Simply stated, Jesus came to this earth as the God/man to die for our (your) sins. Of course, as true followers of Jesus we believe that He alone offers a means of salvation. Still, as Thomas did, we have trouble believing that we are on that narrow path in this life that will lead us to God the Father through Jesus. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:4-6) Immediately when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were put on the narrow path, please believe in your salvation, and be joyous!
Please also believe that your guarantee of salvation from Jesus is a gift through grace, you did not earn it, nor could you ever earn it, because you are one of mankind, and thus, are included in the curse of Adam. Paul wrote about this freedom gift to the Corinthians and us. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14) Did you appreciate this assessment of relationship with Jesus; you get grace, love and fellowship. Every true believer, as Paul wrote, “you all” receive “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” therefore when you associate with other believer’s “you all” share in fellowship.
Satan does not like it when you are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and thus, he works to break up such feelings of fellowship, and thus to discourage us from reaching out to each other. Satan has been very successful in keeping Jesus followers from offering fellowship to other believers by splitting us up into denominations. Although we are all saved by the blood of Christ, we find ways to believe that the other denomination(s) may not be saved, because they fail to believe everything we believe, exactly the way we believe it. Unfortunately Satan has caused some believers to stress the differences and skip over the similarities.
So where do we go from here? This commentary may not be an appropriate forum for such a tremendous realization to take place, but hopefully it may get you to think positively about people who attend churches, which stress views that do not match the church you regularly attend. Today is the day we have work toward bringing the Body of Christ into a cohesive assembly of followers of Jesus! We all believe that “Jesus is the answer,” but we do not all agree to “what is the question!” If the only way to salvation is to follow Jesus, then let us keep it simple. If the question is, “how can my immortal soul end up in heaven when I die?” Then there is only one answer! Jesus is the answer!
Think about it, what can you do to help make the Body of Christ be more singular and become more cohesive? There is a clue in the selected verses for today, and it indicates you cannot do it on your own. You must depend upon the Holy Spirit to direct your thinking in all things. If you remain worldly in your thought processes, then you cannot accept guidance from this Holy Spirit. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. Did Jesus leave this Holy Spirit for you? Does He really indwell your soul? Can you believe it?
Read what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:3-5) Has the grace of Jesus freed you to believe that, “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age?” Do you feel rescued? Are you free to accept other believers as our brothers and sisters? Pray about it.
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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